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50001 Ready Decarbonization Management Guidance

The 50001 Ready Decarbonization Management Guidance provides additional guidance for organizations seeking to use 50001 Ready to manage their energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

In Canada, nearly 80% percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are energy related. For buildings and facilities, these emissions can come from:

Direct GHG emissions from the combustion of energy (e.g., natural gas used in process heating).
Indirect GHG emissions that come from consumption of delivered energy (e.g., electricity consumed).
Indirect GHG emissions that come from energy consumed by activities (e.g., outsourced production processes) throughout an organization’s value chain.

50001 Ready Navigator is designed to help industrial facilities, commercial, and institutional buildings improve their energy performance by implementing a structured energy management system (EnMS). For any facility that is interested in reducing GHG emissions, 50001 Ready Navigator provides guidance on managing and lowering energy-related GHG emissions through the EnMS. Specifically, the 50001 Ready Navigator provides guidance for facilities and organizations to:

Develop or improve a data collection, analysis, and reporting process for energy-related GHG emissions.
Establish a systematic approach to managing and reducing energy-related GHG emissions.

This systematic approach can help facilities and organizations:

Align internal systems, processes, and stakeholders to more effectively and efficiently reduce energy-related GHG emissions.
Improve the quality and rigor of energy-related GHG emissions data and information shared internally and with key stakeholders such as regulatory authorities, customers and investors.
Create a culture for continual improvement of energy and GHG emissions performance, capture synergies among various investments (e.g., energy efficiency and renewable energy), and create sustained energy and cost savings.

Organizations that are interested in using the Navigator tool to manage energy-related GHGs should first read the energy management guidance given for each task and then read the recommendations given in the “Decarbonization” tab for each task. Recommendations in each task are separated into how to:

Enhance an existing 50001 Ready-based energy management system to consider the management of energy-related GHG emissions.
Incorporate the management of energy-related GHG emissions when developing a 50001 Ready energy management system.

An organization might face other climate-related challenges and risks beyond those arising from its energy-related GHG emissions. These could include facility damage from sea-level rise, higher likelihood of storm damage or mandated decreased use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These challenges are not directly addressed by the expanded use of the Navigator tool presented here.

The guidance provided by the Navigator tool is focused on the facility-level actions that are required to manage energy and energy-related GHG emissions. Although the guidance given is consistent with GHG accounting practices, the Navigator tool does not provide in-depth guidance on how to develop organizational-level GHG emissions accounting practices.

Following the 50001 Ready Decarbonization Management Guidance is not necessary to obtain 50001 Ready recognition. Recognition is available only to sites physically located within Canada. Please see recognition requirements on the 50001 Ready Navigator Recognition Requirements page.

To access the 50001 Ready Decarbonization Management Guidance, select the “Decarbonization” tab on any of the 25 Navigator tasks.

Resources Referenced in the 50001 Ready Decarbonization Management Guidance

This table provides a list of U.S., Canadian and international resources that are referenced within the Navigator task guidance under the Decarbonization tab. The organization presenting the resources is also provided. Canadian resources are highlighted in green and the last column provides a brief description of the resource. Where possible, links to the French versions of the documents are provided (you will need to toggle to “français” in the language selection bar at the top of the webpage).

Navigator Task	Organization Name	Resource	Navigator Task Guidance or Resource description for Canadian documents highlighted in green
Task 1 An EnMS and Your Organization	Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures International organization	Final report: Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures	Buildings and facilities that have substantial sustainability initiatives or significant GHG reduction goals may also include in their planning processes, recommendations from the Final Report of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, which includes a list of broader climate change risks and opportunities to consider. Some of the risks and opportunities listed in this report may not apply to your organization or to your EnMS.
Task 1 An EnMS and Your Organization	Chartered Professional Accountants Canada (CPA) Canadian organization	Task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD): Overview	The CDP report, Task force on climate-related financial disclosures: Overview, is referenced on the CPA website. This resource provides an overview of the TCFD (with a link to the report) and the CPA’s position on the TCFD recommendations.
Task 3 Scope and Boundaries	GHG Protocol International organization	The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard	The GHG Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard defines three categories, or “scopes” of direct and indirect emissions that are widely used and should be considered. Chapter 3 of the GHG Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides guidance on the use of two distinct approaches to define organizational boundaries for the purpose of accounting for GHG emissions.
Task 3 Scope and Boundaries	Chartered Professional Accountants Canada (CPA) Canadian organization	A Closer Look at the GHG Protocol: Observations and Implications for Standards Setters and Regulators (September 2022)	This report is a review of emissions disclosures provided through the Carbon Disclosure Project and interviews with stakeholders involved in the preparation and assurance of GHG emissions information.
Task 3 Scope and Boundaries	GHG Protocol International organization	The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard	Chapter 7 of the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides guidance and outlines accounting principles for ensuring the quality of GHG emissions data meets the organization’s needs, both now and in the future, especially for use at a corporate level.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	GHG Protocol International organization	Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard	If your organization is including Scope 3 emissions in the EnMS, the GHG Protocol’s Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standards provides guidance on Scope 3 data collection. Many organizations opt to limit the scope of their EnMS initially to Scopes 1 and 2, before exploring how to manage energy-related Scope 3 emissions through the EnMS.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) U.S. organization	EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership: Scope 1 and Scope 2 Inventory Guidance	The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides methods to calculate and report GHG emissions from Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 Inventory Guidance. To increase the accuracy of Scope 2 emissions inventory, organizations are encouraged to use site-specific emissions factors provided from energy suppliers if available.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Canadian organization	Facility Greenhouse Gas Reporting: Technical guidance on reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions	In the Canada Gazette notice entitled Notice with respect to reporting of greenhouse gases (GHGs) for 2022 and 2023 (the 2022 and 2023 GHGRP Notice), published in January 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada released the GHG reporting requirements for the calendar years 2022 and 2023.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)	EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership: GHG Emission Factors Hub (2023 emission factors)	If using generic emissions factors, EPA’s GHG Emission Factors Hub provides a regularly updated, easy-to-use, and consolidated set of default emission factors.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	International Energy Agency (IEA) International Organization	Emission Factors 2023	Additional emission factors from electricity generation in non-U.S. countries are available through the IEA.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Canadian organization	Emission Factors and Reference Values	This document provides emission factors and reference values that a proponent must use in conjunction with a federal offset protocol to quantify the GHG reductions achieved by a project.
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	United Nations Climate Change International organization	National Inventory Report 1990 – 2020: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada (2022)	Canada’s submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
Task 8 Energy Data Collection and Analysis	GHG Protocol International organization	The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard	If collecting site-specific emissions factors from energy suppliers, include this in your data needs and sources. Make sure the quality of any data collected meets your organization’s needs and meets the legal and other requirements of the organization. Consider reviewing the GHG Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.
Task 12 Objectives and Targets	GHG Protocol International organization	The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard	The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, Chapter 11: Setting a GHG Target, provides additional guidance for setting GHG objectives and targets.
Task 12 Objectives and Targets	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) U.S. organization	EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership: Corporate GHG Inventorying and Target Setting Self-Assessment	The EPA provides a self-assessment to help companies evaluate, at a high level, how their GHG inventory and target-setting approaches compare to large peer companies representing different industry sectors.